Editorial: Why must we pay for overheated Big Smoke?

ROTORUA'S house prices are affordable but looming changes to getting a home loan will soon make it impossible for some people to live the Kiwi dream.

First-home buyers only have a few weeks left before the chances of securing a home loan with less than a 20 per cent deposit are more than halved.

Under the new Reserve Bank rules, the combined dollar amount of loans with deposits below 20 per cent will be limited to 10 per cent of a bank's new lending.

The moves are designed to cool the property market, particularly in Auckland.

The rules are clearly not popular.

Take a look at our comments on page 5 today from Rotorua Daily Post Facebook page readers.

One person has even commented that this decision will stop them from moving back to New Zealand from Australia.

Owning your own house is important for most Kiwis. There's nothing like pottering around in your very own soil.

Rotorua's median house price is in the mid-$250,000s, meaning a deposit of around $50,000 would be needed. In these struggling times, who can afford that?

There could be wider consequences. Elderly parents or grandparents could be bullied into handing over their hard-earned investments or savings to desperate family members.

If the Auckland market is the main problem, why are we all having to suffer?